FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT WOODY AUSTIN - PAGE 2

A streetcar named desire went up another dead-end street Saturday night. After a relatively strong first half, a Northwestern team obsessed with winning a Big 10 game weakened and was defeated by Purdue 82-63. It was the Wildcats` 28th straight Big 10 loss and their 49th in a row on the road in the conference. Having shoved NU a little deeper into the basement, Purdue (11-6, 3-2) will try to bring league-leading Indiana down from its ivory tower Tuesday night. "I`m glad we`re going to Bloomington off a win," said Purdue coach Gene Keady.

The memory long should have resounded like a klaxon as each new basketball season dawned. For back then, in the fall of 1983, Purdue was picked to finish ninth in the Big 10, but there it was the following spring as the conference's co-champ. That should have provided some kind of lesson, or at least a blinking caution light, yet the next two years only brought encores as the Boilermakers finished third and fourth, respectively, after being pegged by prognosticators as second-division afterthoughts.

He still puts up 500 jump shots a day, rain or shine, happy or mad. Doesn't matter. Five hundred is the quota. Five hundred it will be. Rick Mount is 53 and some things are worth rustproofing. If the world were to end tomorrow, it would be of some comfort to Mount to know he could beat the buzzer with a 20-footer. There might be a person on this Earth who can shoot better, perhaps someone out there who can hit 28 out of 30 three-point attempts as he does regularly, but a private detective would have an easier time finding a deadbeat dad with a conscience.

It didn't take long for the PGA Tour players to warm up at the Hawaiian Open. After two weeks of battling rain and wind on the West Coast, the weather was picture-perfect Thursday, and Waukegan native David Ogrin shot a 9-under-par 63 to share the first-round lead with John Huston. Ogrin played the first nine holes in 7-under 29. Curt Bynum was a shot behind at 64, followed by 1990 Hawaiian Open winner David Ishii, Curtis Strange, Jeff Maggert, Woody Austin, Mike Reid and late starter Trevor Dodds--all at 65. Those with early tee times took advantage of the calm day on the flat 7,012-yard Waialae Country Club course.

Mike Weir matched his best round of the season with a 9-under 63 to take the lead in the suspended Buick Open at Grand Blanc, Mich. That is one shot ahead of two-time defending champion Vijay Singh and three in front of Tiger Woods. Joe Durant, Brett Quigley and Woody Austin were two shots back at 65. Just over half of the field was unable to complete the first round that was twice halted by stormy weather. - Juli Inkster shot a 6-under 66 to take a three-shot lead over Maria Horth and Silvia Cavalleri in the opening round of the Women's British Open at Lytham St. Annes, England.

BASEBALL: The Brewers are close to a one-year, $10 million deal with closer Eric Gagne, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. ... The Yankees designated outfielder Bronson Sardinha for assignment, clearing room on the 40-man roster for left-hander Andy Pettitte, who accepted salary arbitration Friday. GOLF: Ernie Els moved into position for his fourth victory in the Alfred Dunhill Championship in Malelane, South Africa, shooting a bogey-free, 8-under 64 to take a two-stroke lead over England's Lee Slattery (67)

Rocco Mediate, rebounding from back problems, shot his lowest score on the PGA Tour in four years, opening the Buick Open on Thursday with an 8-under 64 for a one-stroke lead in Grand Blanc, Mich. Brett Quigley, Woody Austin and Brian Bateman shot 65s and Jim Furyk was among a group of four another stroke back, in a tournament up for grabs without Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh in the field for the first time since 2001. The stars have combined to win four of the previous five Buick Opens.

A season of first-time major winners ended with a familiar champion -- Tiger Woods. Challenged only briefly Sunday along the back nine of steamy Southern Hills in Tulsa, Woods captured the PGA Championship to win at least one major for the third straight season and run his career total to 13 as he moves closer to the standard set by Jack Nicklaus. Woods closed with a 1-under 69 for a two-shot victory over Woody Austin. Woods became the first major champion in seven tries to make a par on the 72nd hole at Southern Hills.

Vijay Singh and Stuart Appleby handed Tiger Woods, who teamed with Jim Furyk, his worst loss in team competition, 5 and 4, and the International team won 4 1/2 points in six fourball matches to cut the U.S. lead to 7-5 at the Presidents Cup in Montreal. "We ran into a tough match," said Woods, 2-7 in Presidents Cup best-ball play. "Not like we were playing bad. We shot 6 under, but we played the same holes. ... We needed to take it a lot deeper than that and we didn't do it."